40th Annual Miss America Pageant (1960)

Fifteen hundred contestants (since the pageant was resurrected in 1935) were invited back to Atlantic City for the Fortieth Royal Reunion Pageant in September with its theme of "Cinderella." The famed Jacque D'Amboise of the New York City Ballet portrayed Prince Charming. Talent scoring in the 1960 local, state, and national pageants doubled the amounts accorded for the evening wear and swimsuit competitions. Margaret Gorman, Miss America 1921, was the Grand Marshall of the Parade as she rode in a float made of 30,000 roses. Eighty-five million viewers tuned in to see Michigan's Nancy Fleming become Miss America 1961.